Supreme Ruler of Dickistan

Karen ably highlighted the newsy scoops of the Washington Post’s Cheney piece yesterday, but I, of course, was struck by the many moments of not-quite-intentional hilarity.

There’s the Dirty Harry moment with Dan Quayle:

“I said, ‘Dick, you know, you’re going to be doing a lot of this international traveling, you’re going to be doing all this political fundraising . . . you’ll be going to the funerals,’ ” Quayle said in an interview earlier this year. “I mean, this is what vice presidents do. I said, ‘We’ve all done it.’ ”

Cheney “got that little smile,” Quayle said, and replied, “I have a different understanding with the president.”

Dick the diva with Bolten:

Bolten joined Libby, his counterpart in Cheney’s office, to compile a list of “portfolios we thought might be appropriate.” Their models, Bolten said, were Quayle’s Council on Competitiveness and Al Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government.

And the ultimate Fredo joke, a nice little back-handed slap from Yoo, amplified by the Post:

Gonzales, a former Texas judge, had the seniority and the relationship with Bush. But Addington — a man of imposing demeanor, intellect and experience — dominated the group. Gonzales “was not a law-of-war expert and didn’t have very developed views,” Yoo recalled, echoing blunter observations by the Texan’s White House colleagues.

This is going to be fun.

Depressing and a reminder that our Constitution is in tatters, but kind of fun. In that grim, our-framers-would-rip-their-own-hair-out-if-they-knew way.